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Combs Talks 'Shadows Of P'Jem'

Captain Archer will find himself in a sticky situation in the upcoming 'Shadows of P'Jem' according to Jeffrey Combs, who reprises his role of the Andorian Shran in the episode.

"Basically, it's another hostage situation where the captain gets himself on another planet and gets himself caught in the crossfire of a civil war," Combs told AntonyF at TrekWeb. "It's not a good situation, and basically we are the cavalry coming over the hill. We show up at the opportune moment and help them, and extradite the captain out of the situation.

"I team up with Trip and Malcolm to rescue the captain. They're trying to rescue him, and we turn up and say 'the way you're going about it is going to get yourselves killed. So we're here to save you, basically.'"

In 'The Andorian Incident', Shran found himself in Archer's debt after the Enterprise captain helped to uncover the secret Vulcan surveillance facility. According to Combs, the situation will be resolved in 'Shadows of P'Jem'.

"I point out to them 'we said to you we were in your debt, now that debt's repaid.' Basically saying, we're even now, we don't like owing anybody anything, so that's where it's left."

The episode will also help to flesh out the geo-political state of the Enterprise universe. "There are fighting factions, and a corrupt government on this planet that has very close ties with the Vulcans," Combs said. "So we have very close ties to the rebels, because that's what we are as well."

Combs was full of praise for the episode's director, Trek veteran Mike Vejar. "Mike is the rock of Gibraltar. He's mellow, easy going, yet really accessible. It's always a pleasure to work with him. So, again it's another comfort zone. Someone else that I don’t have to worry about getting to know, and figuring out how they work or them figuring out how I work."

The 'Shadows of P'Jem' teleplay was written by Enterprise staff writers Michael Sussman and Phyllis Strong, based on a story by executive producers Rick Berman and Brannon Braga. The episode is currently expected to air in February 2002.

More from Combs, including his thoughts on 'The Andorian Incident' and director Roxann Dawson (B'Elanna Torres), can be found here in TrekWeb's full interview.